When Eric and I first started dreaming up Kelly Hovis Designs, it seemed like a far off goal…as in years down the road. We have small children and another on the way, my working hours are limited, and we just figured maybe this wasn’t the right season. I was working for The School of Styling and didn’t have any extra time to really pursue KHD, nor thought it was an immediate or reasonable possibility. When my time at TSOS ended (on a wonderful and encouraging note!), Eric looked at me and said, “Now is as better time as any.”

And so here we are. Three months later.

As I pursue something that has been so carefully crafted by very personal talents, I want to move forward in caution and confession: It is easy for me to get swept up in this craft. It is so easy for me to worry about what other’s think. I am super vulnerable to thoughts that I’m not good enough, because there are so many more wonderful and more talented people out there.

While I am confident in my abilities, I am still prone to insecurities and believing lies…just like all other humans. I usually mask my insecurities by projecting confidence, so even when I may seem like, “I have it all together,” just know that there are negative thoughts that I constantly fight, and your love and encouragement mean the world to me. I hold it tightly to my heart, and I remember it.

This may seem weird to you! Here I am launching a new business, and I am confessing my insecurities! Shouldn’t this be the time when I project the utmost confidence in who I am? Some may advise against sharing such personal feelings to potential clients, but when I decided to pursue KHD, I also decided that if people want to know me personally then I will give them the opportunity. Thus the reason I linked my personal/family blog to my professional website. If you trust me with your business, then know I hold it so tenderly and careful. I think about every decision and desire for you to love my work. Because this is personal to me. Yes, it’s also sometimes just business, but providing a service is vulnerable too!

I love this industry. I love the creativity that flows so naturally out of thousands upon thousands of people who pursue it as a business. It is so easy for me to get swept up for hours (that’s embarrassing to admit!) in scrolling through beautiful Instagram feeds or dreaming about styling my next flat lay, or taking time to edit my website and completely forget about my family.

So I proceed with caution and awareness, that it is easy for me to love this work too much.

It is easy for it to become a god that I worship because of how close it is to my heart.

So for the sake of all my relationships, God, family, and friends, I confess these tendencies so that I may pursue Christ more than Kelly Hovis Designs. I confess so that I may love my family more than this industry. I confess so that the anxiety that stems from longing to be accepted and loved will diminish, because my heart of worship is satisfied, not in man’s approval but in the Gospel.

So thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Thank you for taking the time to look at my website. Thank you for accepting me into this industry with open arms. Thank you for your encouragement and honesty! I’m looking forward to how KHD evolves and grows, however slow or fast that may be, I’m excited.